


Dream

by kricketot



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, M/M, Regret, Sorta kinda, Young Albus Dumbledore, Young Gellert Grindelwald
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-19
Updated: 2019-01-19
Packaged: 2019-10-12 20:16:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17474285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kricketot/pseuds/kricketot
Summary: Gellert Grindelwald dreams of a time when things had been innocent and he had been happy.





	Dream

**Author's Note:**

> This was just a drabble that's been sitting in my google drive for a while. I thought it finally deserved to see the light of day.
> 
>  
> 
> EDIT: Whoops, wrote green eyes instead of blue eyes, fixed it! Sorry to anyone who saw it.

When Gellert Grindlewald went to sleep, he dreamt of a boy with bright blue eyes and red hair that shone like the sun. Because it was a dream, they were the best of friends; sharing jokes and staying up late into the nights talking about dreams and ideas.

Because it was a dream Ariana Dumbledore would occasionally come in to interrupt, demanding a story and Albus Dumbledore—the boy with the brightest eyes and flaming hair—would give her a mildly annoyed look and try to convince her to go to Aberforth, but would eventually cave in anyway.

Because it was a dream Gellert would cross his arms and give his friend a displeased look partially blaming him for the interruption. Albus would smile back in an innocent, apologetic way before returning to some stupid story about a rabbit and a magic cauldron. Gellert would pretend he wasn’t really listening, but the way Albus read those boring children’s books would always capture him pulling him into even the stupidest of stories. Eventually, against his better judgement, he would lean in towards the two Dumbledore siblings to get a better look at the colored illustrations. 

Sometimes, Ariana would demand Gellert take part in the reading; usually to make a silly voice up for one of the characters. Albus would give him a hopeful look and Gellert would agree though he was never really sure why. Because it was a dream, he was able to admit he actually enjoyed it. Enjoyed reading, enjoyed the break, enjoyed  _this._

When Ariana finally left, Albus and Gellert would go back to sharing their ideas and passions. Because it was a dream, Albus’s bright eyes still gleamed with hope and excitement for the future. His eyes would only cloud when he spoke of vengeance against the muggles whose kind had caused Ariana's illness. It would make Gellert's chest clench, because Ariana should never have suffered this way.  _Albus_ should never have suffered this way. They would fix it, one day, the two of them.

Because it was a dream, Gellert still believed that.

Sometimes—but only sometimes—Gellert would find himself getting a bit too close to Albus during these conversations. Sometimes his hand would brush over the other boy’s, sometimes he’d let Albus fall asleep on his shoulder, and sometimes he enjoyed it.

Because it was a dream he never bothered to mention any of that to Albus.

Because it was a dream Gellert would eventually wake up.

The moment he opened his eyes the warmth, innocence, and happiness his dreams provided him with would dissipate and no matter how many times he forced his eyes shut it would never return until the following night. This wasn’t a dream, so Albus’s eyes were full of wisdom and pain. His hair was grey and no longer glistened like it had before. Ariana Dumbledore was dead, her storybooks discarded who knows where. Gellert was a criminal. A criminal who didn’t deserve a best friend or storybooks or any happy memories at all.

Laying on the cold, stone floor of his prison he wondered what he had done to deserve happiness like that...even if it had been for only one summer.


End file.
